UK ‘mulls sending aircraft carrier’ towards Cyprus

The United Kingdom is considering sending an aircraft carrier in Cyprus’ direction, with the conflict in the Middle East continuing into its second full week, according to reports on Sunday.

The BBC quoted “defence sources” as having said that the crew of the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales has been given notice that the ship must set sail from Portsmouth in five days.

It added that “this may raise speculation that the carrier could be deployed to the Mediterranean to help defend British interests threatened during the conflict”.

The development comes with the UK already having sent two AW159 Wildcat helicopters, armed with anti-drone missiles, to Cyprus, with the HMS Dragon Type 45 destroyer warship also expected to depart from Portsmouth within the coming days.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had announced the deployment of the HMS Dragon and the two helicopters after the country’s Akrotiri air force base in Cyprus had been hit by an Iranian-made drone in the early hours of last Monday morning.

Since then, Starmer has confirmed that Cyprus, and more specifically Akrotiri, has been used as the launchpad for missions aimed at engaging and shooting down drones fired from Iran.

Those operations are being led by F-35 fighter jets, which have been stationed in Cyprus since last month.

With the amount of military hardware on the island and in its vicinity increasing, Starmer had said last Thursday that “I want to be really clear to everybody in Cyprus that we’re taking every measure that is needed to protect them, to protect the airbase, along with the other places in the region”.

British assets on the island are being joined by assets from its other two guarantor powers, Greece and Turkey, with Greece having sent two frigates and four F-16 fighter jets to the island last week, and Turkey having deployed four F-16 fighter jets of its own, which are set to arrive on the island on Sunday.

All three of Cyprus’ guarantor powers seem to be heading towards alignment regarding Cyprus’ role in the conflict.

Following the arrival of the Greek F-16s on Monday, Turkey lodged no protest, and the country’s defence ministry’s spokesman rear admiral Zeki Akturk instead announced that a delegation from the Greek air force will visit Turkey next Monday “within the framework of bilateral relations and regional developments”.

He then described the Greek delegation’s planned visit of as a “confidence-building measure”.

Then, on Friday, a delegation from the Turkish navy visited the UK ahead of the deployment of the HMS Dragon to the region.

Most recently, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer held a telephone conversation on Saturday, immediately after which the deployment of the four Turkish F-16s was announced to the public.

In addition to Greece, Turkey, and the UK, other European Union member states have also sent military assets in Cyprus’ direction, with France’s Languedoc frigate having arrived in Cypriot waters on Wednesday.

French President Emmanuel Macron had also announced that the aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle will also be deployed in the eastern Mediterranean. It is believed that the aircraft carrier and its strike group passed through the Strait of Gibraltar on Friday.

Meanwhile, Italy has announced its intention to send the Federico Martinego frigate to Cyprus, while Spain is to send the Cristobal Colon frigate.